04Sep We are Church meeting in Limerick

WE are Church Ireland , part of the International movement WE are Church , which is promoting reform in the Catholic Church is now organising an informational meeting on our movement in Limerick on :

Saturday , 8th September at the Glenworth Hotel, Limerick City, from 12pm to 4.pm.

There is no charge for attendance and all committed Catholics looking to make our Church relevant to our times are invited to ‘Come and See’.

We are Church Ireland was co founded by a Limerick woman ,Helen Mc Carthy , and she can be contacted at 086 8311506 to confirm attendance.

Further information : Brendan Butler 086 4054984 , spokesperson We are Church Ireland. ( also on Facebook )

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Hope your meeting went well today and was a great success. Best wishes from We Are Church (UK)

John HealeySeptember 8th, 2012 at 6:59 pm

Also regarding Limerick, many local Catholics will doubtless be pleased by the news that the former Sacred Heart Church in the Crescent, which seemed destined to become a health club before falling into disrepair, has been sold to the Institute of Christ the King. The community has now taken up residence and the reopening of the Church is imminent. It is to be hoped that this young community, whose average age is 32 and represents a sign of the renewal of the Church will be welcomed and assisted in their task.

John, it is indeed possible that many lcoal Catholics will be pleased to welcome the Institute of Christ the King. Equally, many local catholics may want the kind of church that We Are Church advocates.

John HealeySeptember 15th, 2012 at 12:14 pm

People will vote with their feet on this issue, Margaret. There is nothing really new about the principle of We Are Church. Throughout the centuries, and particularly since the sixteenth century, there have been groups of disaffected Catholics calling for fundamental changes and the right to private judgement on doctrinal matters. Many such groups have broken away, not only Protestants but those who call themselves “Catholic” – the Old Catholic churches on the Continent, as well as the Polish Catholic Church in America. We Are Church is by no means the first and will not be the last of such movements. The Church has survived them all and will survive this too. Time, of course, will tell. If I were a betting man, I know which movement’s continuation in a hundred years time I’d bet on – the Institute of Christ the King will be around then. I very much doubt that WAC will be, although a successor group will probably be calling in vain for the same agenda. People have a choice now and we shall see how they choose. Personally, I don’t know why disaffected people don’t join an existing church which embodies so much of what they advocate. Indeed, the Church of Ireland offers such an alternative – women priests, substantial private judgement on doctrinal matters – the claim to be in continuity with the “Celtic Church” and possesses many of our ancient buildings. Had our ancestors pursued the vision of We Are Church – particularly the principle of private judgement and a curtailed papacy – they would have joined the Church of Ireland during the Reformation, when these were on offer. Just think: Ireland would then have integrated into the reformed faith, which would made the plantations of Ulster unnecessary and Ireland might never have broken away from the rest of “These Islands”, the whole history of which would have been different. Personally, I am grateful to them for choosing at great cost to remain faithful to the Catholic Church anchored on the Holy See. As regards those who say that the Church is about to collapse, they should read the history of their many predecessors and prophets of doom. They can also look at the examples of churches and countries where their programme has been adopted and which if anything has accelerated the decline of the Church. Other than that, I am happy to leave these issues to that infallible judge: Time.